Italian photographer Massimo Listri recently embarked on a cultural-historical pilgrimage to seek out some of the oldest and most stunning libraries in the world - and the results are stunning.
Listri documented his journey in his book The World's Most Beautiful Libraries that was published by Taschen earlier last year.
The collection spans private, public, educational, and monastic libraries, dating as far back as 766, among them medieval, classical, baroque, rococo, and 19th century institutions.
Featured libraries include the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Laurentian Library in Florence, the private library of the powerful House of Medici, designed by Michelangelo. Each is accompanied by a description of its holdings, and of its "often lively, turbulent, or controversial pasts," according to the publisher.
Click through the gallery above for a selection of the book's most stunning featured libraries, including the dramatic Strahovská Knihovna in Prague, the Czech Republic (below)...
...To the stunning Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra in Portugal...
...And the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland.
Click through the gallery above to see inside some of the world's most beautiful libraries ...
